Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2011-12 Private School Universe Survey First Look - Descriptive tables provide information on number of U.S. private schools, students and teachers by varying characteristics in 2011-12. Selective findings include factoids: In the fall of 2011 there were 30,861 private schools with 4,494,845 students and 420,880 full-time equivalent teachers. Sixty-eight percent of the schools had a religious orientation. More private school students in 2011-12 were enrolled in kindergarten than in any other grade level. The average pupil/teacher ratio was 10.7. Ninety-eight percent of 12th-graders enrolled in private schools around October of 2010 graduated by the fall of 2011. Of the graduates, 64% attended 4-year colleges by the fall of 2011. (Stephen Broughman, National Center for Education Statistics, and Nancy Swain, Census Bureau, July 2013...

The Decline in Private School Enrollment - Private school enrollment has been on the decline for a decade, with various reasons offered: the recession, homeschooling, the rise of charter schools. Stephanie Ewert of the U.S. Census Bureau has crunched a lot of numbers that shed light on the phenomenon. In The Decline in Private School Enrollments she indicates “recessions and periods of economic growth do not drive changes in private school enrollment.” While homeschooling is a difficult call, she says there is some evidence that the rise of charters has led to a decline in private school enrollment. (Stephanie Ewert, U.S. Census Bureau, January 2013)...